Man arrested in connection with attempted rape of Central Park sunbather: Police
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on July 3, 2024
(NEW YORK) — A man has been arrested in connection with the attempted rape of a woman sunbathing in Central Park last month, police said.
Jermaine Longmire has been charged with attempted rape and sex abuse by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, police said Wednesday.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said Longmire’s DNA appeared on the woman’s bikini bottom, which had been recovered by police.
The suspect has priors in New York and a “substantial arrest history” in several other states, Kenny said.
Sources told ABC News on Tuesday that the suspect had been in custody on a separate forcible touching case and DNA linked him to the Central Park incident.
The 21-year-old woman was alone and sunbathing in the Great Hill section of the park when a man came toward her exposing himself around 1:30 p.m. on June 24, New York Police Department Chief of Patrol John Chell said last week.
“She screams and gets up to run,” but “he tackles her from behind” and “tried to get on top of her,” Chell said.
The victim fought the man off and he fled, he added.
The New York Police Department released a sketch of the suspect on June 27.
The attacker had been described as a Black man in his 30s with curly hair, police said. He has a medium build and is about 6 feet tall, police said.
Police said there were no known patterns for sexual assaults in Central Park, which Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard described as “one of the most iconic locations in the world” for New Yorkers and visitors.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
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